Support PETA & shutdown all circuses & pet stores.
Animals should not be slaves.
Cats & dogs are bad for the environment.
Two large dogs have the same environmental impact as our Prius.

Wilmette has been lucky to not have an incident with the Kelly Miller Circus, especially since 3 tigers escaped from Kelly Miller's enclosures last summer and one attacked a horse. It took 30 minutes for Kelly Miller employees to contain the tigers. All wild-animal circuses have had safety incidents. Kelly Miller is no exception. Please urge District 39 to find a new fundraiser!

The Village Board who approved the permit and the District 39 Foundation who hired the circus have set a horrible example for the children. A simple Google search will provide more than enough information on the cruelty that circus animals endure. The USDA inspection report for Kelly Miller last Oct questions the height of the tiger temporary holding enclosure. How about an animal free circus? There are many to choose from and they provide great entertainment.

I'm very disgusted that The Village Board and the District 39 Foundation would support such cruelty. Even worse, they are teaching this cruelty to innocent children. Whereas they should be giving them lessons in compassion and respecting animals, they are giving the message that is is okay to keep animals in a circus. Elephants, tigers, and other circus animals spend their lives on the road most of the year and are trained with physical punishment.

I see that they use elephants in their circus. Elephants are majestic, intelligent, self-aware animals. They are known to express emotions and mourn their dead. Although these creatures obviously deserve respect they will spend their days cramped in train cars or trucks and performing unnatural tricks. Because of this, they often display neurotic behavior and have have painful foot or join disease. Even worse, they are exposed to the humane disease tuberculosis. Most of the elephants performing in circuses today were captured from the wild, tearing apart great family bonds.

I urge the Village Board and the District 39 Foundation to find a different funraiser. As Janie said above, there are many animal free circuses to choose from.

I hope District 39 will choose an animal free circus while my son attends Romona. We really want to support the school and the District but just can't bring ourselves to attend this event.

It is sad that such a highly educated village is allowing this type of entertainment. These animals live a sad and lonely life. They are trained by using cruel methods. They live in cages away from their natural environments. It is heartbreaking, and I will never understand why people support it. We need to teach our children to treasure and respect all life. These animals have feelings, and we have no right to enslave them for our entertainment. I wish they would choose an animal free circus instead.

Tracey Kearney: So does it take an "incident" to happen in Wilmett before you consider the circus to be unsafe for the public?? But even more pressing than that, you must hear the voices of the people, when they tell you of the abuse that goes on in any circus long before the night of the presentation. Children are very aware now a days of animal abuse, and when they do find out about the violent cruelty that happens behind the scenes, they will wonder why you chose to exploit it, instead of fighting against it.

It is remarkable to me that a foundation that is linked to a school district that influences thousands of kids in a highly educated suburb of Chicago is essentially endorsing animal cruelty. Can't they think of a better way to raise money?

In this "enlightened" day and age, the only ones who would still consider animal abuse as entertainment are Dinosaurs! This is NOT ok. There are better alternatives. Pick one.

Studies show that children who are taught empathy and respect fpr animals incorporate what they've learned into their relationships with people which will help them all their lives. Circuses abuse animals and send a negative message to the children that can desensitize them to the needs and feelings of others. What is it that we want to teach the children of Wilmette? We owe it to them to do the right thing.

Why should the lovely community of Wilmette asked to set a higher standard? Gee, maybe because the demographic allegedly represents a more educated, thus more humane paradigm. And how arrogant of the village to disregard the opinion of so many who responded to the poll.

All it takes is a two-second Google search to show that all circuses are horrendously abusive towards the animals. Ringling Brothers last year alone was in $270,000 of USDA violations. Many countries have banned circuses because of the abuse. Just because it is not illegal to do this to animals in our country hardly makes it right. What the Village of Wilmette has chosen to do is ignorant, cowardly, and disgusting. I'm embarrassed to be from there.

the outrage persists, and yet this tracey kearney person continues to insist there is no problem. tracey, you have all of this information handed to you on a silver platter, yet you choose to ignore it. that, alone, makes you the worst type of person, and one who by no means should be setting an example for children.

I have written to the District on multiple occasions expressing my concern and alarm at such a poor choice of event for a fundraiser. This is the worst kind of message to send to our children. Clearly, Tracey Kearney, does not care what Wilmette parents and residents think. That this has been going on since 2002 is no reason to continue doing so. There are so many other positive events that could be considered. That they are so immovable and unwilling to change the status quo strikes me as somewhat lazy. Find a new event that isn't based in exploitation, cruelty and danger.

I am ashamed that the Village of Wilmette is embracing the horrific treatment of animals by allowing the circus to come to town.

Our children should be taught that all creatures deserve respect; bringing the circus to Wilmette conveys the message that animals are ours to use for entertainment and monetary gain. These creatures do not deserve to be robbed of their dignity, denied their freedom and tortured - all for our amusement.

Because the board meeting was restricted to the issue of land use, compassionate Wilmette residents were not afforded the opportunity to voice our concerns. As others have stated here, I will be writing personal appeals to Village President Chris Canning and Foundation Chairwoman Tracy Kearney.

"After approval was given to Wilmette School District 39's Educational Foundation by Wilmette trustees to hold a circus fundraiser..." This is the only line that sticks in my mind when I read the article and commentary following. There is controversy with any organization that confines and/or trains animals. Perhaps the Wilmette Trustees should find another fundraiser. For now, questioning one persons character for a decision that was made by a group is unfair. Tracey Kearney has clocked more hours for the benefit of our children and our schools in one week than many of us do in an entire school year. It is bad training as humans to blame her in this fundraising effort. Rather than tear down a person who is trying to do a good thing for our district, channel the energy into getting your voice heard at a meeting before decisions are made. After reading this blog I feel like I should be more concerned about a human "incident" than one by an animal. If you don't like the circus that is coming regardless in September, then don't go- but do something about it rather than criticize one person and the decision after the fact.

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